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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

I've wrestled with writing about this story since I saw it surface at work early yesterday morning. At this point it's a proven fact that George Zimmerman is a pretty despicable human being. He's said in the past that he doesn't feel guilty for killing Trayvon Martin. He's been accused of domestic violence by both his wife and his girlfriend. He's had several run ins with his neighbor Matt Apperson in road rage incidents, the latest led to Zimmerman being shot at and Apperson being charged with second degree attempted murder. Of this last incident George Zimmerman took the witness stand last week in the same Seminole County courtroom where he was acquitted in Trayvon Martin's killing to testify about how much his life was in danger from Matt Apperson's mere presence in his neighborhood.

Well ain't that rich.

So in the midst of this latest round of legal troubles for Zimmerman, this happened:

He retweeted a picture of Travyon Martin's dead body. A picture that was shown as evidence during his trial. Infamous hoodie and all.

Once the twitter streets saw Zimmerman's cosign of someone calling him a "one man army," the dragging commenced. However, the dragging was ineffective. George Zimmerman, has been dragged for the last three years of his life, so at this point he is used to it, and being the troll that he is he decided to clap back at those who fired twitter literary shots at him first.

That led to this tweet in response to someone who threatened to slap him:

Not that I expected any less from George Zimmerman, but clearly there is no remorse for the unnecessary loss of life. The life that he took. A 17-year-old boy gunned down when George Zimmerman couldn't take the ass whooping he instigated.

This story has given me all the feels in the last 36 hours that it's been circulating. I have the feels because Trayvon's death seemed to be the start of the unsettling trend of young Black men being killed at the hands of vigilantes, zealots, bigots, and police officers just for the hell of it. Since Trayvon Martin the list of names continues to grow, exponentially it seems, where before there was a name here or there every few years. The Amadou Diallo's, Sean Bell's, and Oscar Grant's have ballooned into the Trayvon Martin's, Jordan Davis', Jonathan Ferrell's, Michael Brown's, Eric Garner's, Tamir Rice's, Walter Scott's, Eric Harris', Freddie Gray's and the Charleston 9. The killings, the murders, the bloodshed has gotten so bad that a group had to be formed to remind the world that Black Lives Matter. That same group has since come under attack for its unorganized amorphous non-nucleus that has spawned rallying cry after rallying cry at protest after protest from the Boys in the Hood to the Presidential Candidates running to change the world from the bully pulpit. The same phrase, the same rallying cry is now considered a terrorist group by Fox News, hateful, racist, and bigoted by others because those misguided few seem to believe that by saying Black Lives Matter we as Black people believe that no one else's life matters as much as our own.

I have all the feels because if all lives actually mattered Trayvon Martin would not be dead because the person that killed him would have gone to Target the night of February 26, 2012 as he intended instead of profiling a stranger he didn't recognize walking through his neighbor. If all lives mattered Jordan Davis would still be alive to turn up, and the colloquial phrase "turn up" probably wouldn't even be a saying because the boy who died so we could all get so turnt would still be alive. If all lives mattered 12-year-old Tamir Rice would graduate from the eighth grade this year instead of resting peacefully six feet under in a grave a police officer put him in for playing with a toy gun.

George Zimmerman's retweet and following twitter tirade is not just about his disrespect for the teenaged boy he killed. George Zimmerman's retweet and trolling doesn't give me the feels because of his lack of remorse for his killing of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman's retweet and interweb tantrum is indicative of much more: 1. The number of overzealous, trigger happy, racist, bigots who feel just as he does, and 2. The fact that life is only precious if it's not lived in a black body.

The internet is a cesspool for hate speech, racist thought, and bigoted group think, and George Zimmerman's twitter feed is the current capital of it all.

I've wrestled with writing about this story since I saw it surface at work early yesterday morning. At this point it's a proven fact that George Zimmerman is a pretty despicable human being. He's said in the past that he doesn't feel guilty for killing Trayvon Martin. He's been accused of domestic violence by both his wife and his girlfriend. He's had several run ins with his neighbor Matt Apperson in road rage incidents, the latest led to Zimmerman being shot at and Apperson being charged with second degree attempted murder. Of this last incident George Zimmerman took the witness stand last week in the same Seminole County courtroom where he was acquitted in Trayvon Martin's killing to testify about how much his life was in danger from Matt Apperson's mere presence in his neighborhood.

Well ain't that rich.

So in the midst of this latest round of legal troubles for Zimmerman, this happened:

He retweeted a picture of Travyon Martin's dead body. A picture that was shown as evidence during his trial. Infamous hoodie and all.

Once the twitter streets saw Zimmerman's cosign of someone calling him a "one man army," the dragging commenced. However, the dragging was ineffective. George Zimmerman, has been dragged for the last three years of his life, so at this point he is used to it, and being the troll that he is he decided to clap back at those who fired twitter literary shots at him first.

That led to this tweet in response to someone who threatened to slap him:

Not that I expected any less from George Zimmerman, but clearly there is no remorse for the unnecessary loss of life. The life that he took. A 17-year-old boy gunned down when George Zimmerman couldn't take the ass whooping he instigated.

This story has given me all the feels in the last 36 hours that it's been circulating. I have the feels because Trayvon's death seemed to be the start of the unsettling trend of young Black men being killed at the hands of vigilantes, zealots, bigots, and police officers just for the hell of it. Since Trayvon Martin the list of names continues to grow, exponentially it seems, where before there was a name here or there every few years. The Amadou Diallo's, Sean Bell's, and Oscar Grant's have ballooned into the Trayvon Martin's, Jordan Davis', Jonathan Ferrell's, Michael Brown's, Eric Garner's, Tamir Rice's, Walter Scott's, Eric Harris', Freddie Gray's and the Charleston 9. The killings, the murders, the bloodshed has gotten so bad that a group had to be formed to remind the world that Black Lives Matter. That same group has since come under attack for its unorganized amorphous non-nucleus that has spawned rallying cry after rallying cry at protest after protest from the Boys in the Hood to the Presidential Candidates running to change the world from the bully pulpit. The same phrase, the same rallying cry is now considered a terrorist group by Fox News, hateful, racist, and bigoted by others because those misguided few seem to believe that by saying Black Lives Matter we as Black people believe that no one else's life matters as much as our own.

I have all the feels because if all lives actually mattered Trayvon Martin would not be dead because the person that killed him would have gone to Target the night of February 26, 2012 as he intended instead of profiling a stranger he didn't recognize walking through his neighbor. If all lives mattered Jordan Davis would still be alive to turn up, and the colloquial phrase "turn up" probably wouldn't even be a saying because the boy who died so we could all get so turnt would still be alive. If all lives mattered 12-year-old Tamir Rice would graduate from the eighth grade this year instead of resting peacefully six feet under in a grave a police officer put him in for playing with a toy gun.

George Zimmerman's retweet and following twitter tirade is not just about his disrespect for the teenaged boy he killed. George Zimmerman's retweet and trolling doesn't give me the feels because of his lack of remorse for his killing of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman's retweet and interweb tantrum is indicative of much more: 1. The number of overzealous, trigger happy, racist, bigots who feel just as he does, and 2. The fact that life is only precious if it's not lived in a black body.

The internet is a cesspool for hate speech, racist thought, and bigoted group think, and George Zimmerman's twitter feed is the current capital of it all.

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